There were a dozen new names on Arkansas Tech's womens basketball roster for Monday night's season opener, but they sure looked like the traditional, highly defensive and high-scoring Golden Suns.

Tech held Central Baptist College of Conway scoreless for nearly six minutes in the first half, forced 19 turnovers and went on an lethal 34-2 scoring run en route to a 108-51 non-conference win over the Mustangs in Tucker Coliseum.

"It really was a good opener. I really liked how we passed the ball, made extra passes to get a better shot," third-year Golden Suns head coach Dave Wilbers said. "Our defense was OK at times, and our transition game was really good. It was a good, solid effort from out basketball team tonight."

Tech (1-0) opened the first half with back-to-back turnovers, but took a 3-0 lead when junior transfer Jenny Vining nailed a three-pointer at 18:45. CBC (4-1) started with a miss and turnover, but 5-7 junior guard Casey Williams of Dover answered with a three-pointer to tie the score 3-3. The Mustangs stayed close and later took an 11-9 lead on another trey nearly six minutes into the first half.

But after a single free throw, the Golden Suns went to work in earnest and held Central Baptist to just a dozen more points the rest of the first half.

Tech's defensive pressure didn't allow a Mustang basket from 14:10 to 7:43 and forced CBC into 19 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Golden Suns stretched their lead to 21-12, then junior forward Heather Beck of Morrilton ended the scoring drought for the Mustangs.

Tech wasn't done, however. Freshmen forwards Jessica Weatherford, Katie Horsman and guard Amanda Curtis forced so many steals and turnovers, they didn't let Central Baptist get past half court until they were quickly ahead by 30. Vining had a steal and layup, then nailed a couple of three-pointers to put the Suns on top 45-14 with 5:41 left in the first half. Amber Garrett's trey, then another from Williams, got the deficit back to less than 30 before Tech settled for a 52-26 halftime advantage.

Vining paced the Golden Suns with 11 points in the period. Pottsville native and 5-5 sophomore guard Brittny Nealy went 2-of-3 from the field, 1-of-2 at the line and scored five points in the first 20 minutes. Williams was 3-of-6 from the field, 3-of-5 from the foul line and led the Mustangs with nine first-half points.

Tech went up by 31 (62-29) a couple of minutes into the second half, then 5-8 junior transfer Shaquilah Davis went on a tear. She hit a long jumper, made a steal and hit the layup, then put in a layin off another turnover for the Suns' 72-31 lead with about 14 minutes remaining.

The Suns went on another run past the midway point of the second half. Sophomore transfer Natalia Santos hit an inside jumper, Vining added a free throw, Da Silva got back-to-back buckets, then Davis hit a basketball for an 88-41 Tech advantage with eight minutes to go in the game. Williams nailed a 3-pointer a minute later for CBC, but Curtis answered with a trey 20 seconds later, and freshman Laura Davidson got a layup for a 93-44 margin.

After Mustang sophomore forward Danielle Wilson hit the floor and suffered a knee injury to stop action momentarily, Weatherford's free throws put the Golden Suns over the century mark at 4:27. Williams hit a pair of free throws to put Central Baptist past 50 points, but fouled out with 22.7 seconds to go. She led the Mustangs with 13 points. Nealy finished with nine points.

Wilbers said Tech's had more preseason practices - 25 this season, compared to 16 last year - and it's paid off with the new players.

"We're a seasoned team, but we did a good job playing as a group," Wilbers added. "She (Santos) is an older player and had a really good season at New Mexico Junior College last year. We've got to get her in good shape and used to NCAA Division II basketball."

The Golden Suns will travel to Rolla, Mo., this weekend to play Wayne State (Mich.) at 5 p.m. Friday, then Upper Iowa at 1 p.m. Saturday. They'll host Southwestern Oklahoma at 2 p.m. Nov. 25.